> After learning how to test for nitrate I have been amazed at how
> far off my intuition regarding water quality has been. Let face it many
> of us end up with tanks that are overloaded with fish. These tanks
definitely
> require more frequent water changes. There is also the wide misconception
> of plants "removing nitrate". While it is true that in nature there are
> definite examples of wetlands with aerobic-anerobic-carbon cycle nitrate
removal,
> I have not seen any fish tank that comes even close to nitrate closed
> bio cycle, the only practical approach is the true and tried:
> regular water chance and gravel vacuum.
Coming from the "plant side" of the hobby, I have to say that I ADD nitrates
to my tanks because my plants do suck up nitrogen faster than I add it via
fish food! (So you could say that I don't have a closed bio-cycle either
:-) )
Having said this, I do realize that the plant/fish ratio in my aquariums is
large, while in "normal" fish tanks it is fairly low. The nitrate
accumulation problem is directly related to this ratio.
Michael Eckardt